High Stakes
by dogsrock101
Summary: "You don't gamble with a tactician. Especially not with this one." Legault had warned him. Hector had ignored his words of advice. Too soon does he realize what a mistake that was.


_Hi! So this is a one shot between Hector and an OC tactician. This was requested by Aquatic Silver, and I hope she enjoys it!_

* * *

"I think I'm gonna need to wash my clothes after this," Hector grumbled, tugging on the collar of his shirt and grimacing. His shirt was soaked with sweat and clung to his skin uncomfortably.

"Wash mine while you're at it, will you?" joked Eliwood, wiping the sweat off his brow. His forehead glistened in the sun.

"Oh yeah, sure thing," Hector replied sarcastically. "I love spending my nights cleaning sweaty laundry of other men."

"Thanks, Hector! You really are the best," Eliwood said, playing along.

"Aren't I?"

He shook his head and laughed. Hector grinned.

"Did you enjoy your spar, my lords?" Marcus asked as the two entered the camp. There was a number of their comrades outside their tents, conversing with one another or silently working on whatever suited them. Priscilla, for instance, was sewing a jacket that appeared to have lost a few buttons, Erk was silently reading a book, and Rebecca was engaged in a conversation with Wil.

"Oh, yeah, so much fun," Hector said, half-sarcastic, half-not. As much as he enjoyed sparring, especially with his friend, it had been far too hot for his liking, and he had gotten exhausted. Not to mention the fact that the redhead had bested him.

"I think the best part was when I beat you," Eliwood grinned. Hector immediately scowled.

"I told you that happened because I lost my footing over that stupid branch!"

"Or you just stumbled over your own two feet because you felt so threatened by me." He held back a laugh as Hector rolled his eyes and snorted.

"No, it was your charm that got me," Hector joked. Eliwood laughed.

"I do tend to do that to people."

"Especially to some particular…" He leaned in toward him, lowering his voice. "Dancers."

Eliwood's cheeks flamed as red as his hair. "Hector!" he hissed, punching the Ostian on the arm. Hector grinned mischievously.

"What?" he asked innocently, drawing away. Eliwood scowled at him in response, still blushing furiously. Marcus, confused since he didn't know what Hector had said that had caused his lord to be so flustered, was still slightly amused to see them banter the way they did. He smiled to himself and shook his head a little.

"Back so soon, milords?" Oswin asked, joining the three.

"I didn't give you enough time to yourself, did I, Oswin?" Hector said. His knight smiled, making his eyes crinkle.

"I can't say you did, Lord Hector. Not that you ever do."

Eliwood snickered. Hector glared at him.

"It's a shame we didn't have a chance to spar," Marcus said, glancing at Oswin. "Or discuss our plans for tomorrow."

Eliwood frowned, confused. "What do you mean? I would think that a good hour or two away from us would've given you plenty of time to talk."

The two knights shared a look. Oswin cleared his throat, facing the lords. "I wouldn't quite say that, milord."

His frown deepened. "Why not?"

They shared that look again. An exhausted look parents might share after they've put the children to bed.

"Out with it," Hector said impatiently.

"How should I put this…?" Marcus pondered, tapping a finger against his chin. He opened his mouth to continue when there a sudden outburst of laughter and shouts from deeper within the camp. It quickly escalated louder until it suddenly became eerily silent.

"What was that?" Hector frowned, craning his neck.

"Is everything alright?" Eliwood asked to nobody in particular. The others around him seemed to understand what was going on, perhaps accustomed to it, for they all but ignored the commotion.

"I think you ought to go look for yourselves, milords," Marcus said. Clearly he was also accustomed to the noise and was not worried about it. He did seem annoyed, however.

The lords looked at each other, figuring it had do with their comrades acting silly by the way Marcus was annoyed. Curious at what exactly was going on, they bid their knights farewell and headed off toward the noise.

What they soon saw was a clump of people near a tent. There was a handful of them, all standing around something or someone, as the clump was shaped in a half-circle. All heads were turned downward, toward whatever it was they were looking at, and seemed to be watching intensely.

"What the hell…?" Hector grumbled, stopping before the clump.

"What's going on here?" Eliwood demanded. A few heads turned toward them, but everybody else didn't even notice the two lords.

"Oh, welcome back, you two," Lyn greeted them.

"Lyn," Hector said, "what is this?" He gestured to the half-circle of his comrades. She paused, glancing around herself.

"I believe they're called 'people', Hector," she teased, grinning at him. He rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean."

She pursed her lips slightly. "Well, you don't have be such a grouch about it." He opened his mouth to retort, but she never gave him the chance. "We're watching a game."

Dart laughed softly beside her. "A game?" He sounded amused. "That's a nice way to put, innit?"

She smiled at him as if knowing what he meant. She shrugged. "It is a game, though, isn't it?"

He smirked. "Aye, lass, it damn well is." He paused. "A game of luck, that is."

"I wouldn't say that," Lyn argued, frowning. "I think it's a game of strategy."

"Luck and strategy are two very different things," Eliwood pointed out.

"Yeah," Hector agreed, "so which is it?"

"'Tis o' a game o' luck 'cause 'tis—"

Lyn swatted Dart on the arm, shooting him a meaningful look. He clamped his mouth shut, though a wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips.  
"How about you decide for yourselves?" Lyn returned her attention to the other lords. She nodded her head at whatever was going on behind her.

"Don't mind if we do." Hector pushed his way through the throng of people, causing some to grumble in annoyance, and Eliwood followed. When they made it to the front, Hector's eyebrows rose at the sight.

There, sitting in the grass, with a stack of cards and a huge pile of gold pieces in between them, were Matthew and the tactician. Each held a few cards in their hands, contemplating them silently.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Don't tell them that they're…" Eliwood started, staring at the gold in between them.

"Oh, but I think they are."

Hector's suspicions were soon to be confirmed when Matthew laid down his cards, a wide triumphant smirk across his face. From his angle he could see that the majority of the cards were crowns and dragons.

The tactician said nothing, placing her own cards against the grass. Her cards were mostly kings and dragons. The smirk instantly fell off Matthew's face and instead was transferred to the tactician's face.

A burst of shouts erupted from the spectators, the shouts a mix of anger and glee. The tactician's smirk widened. She raised her chin slightly, looking haughtily down at Matthew.

"At least you tried," she said, all too sweetly, as she shoved all the gold pieces toward herself. The spy said nothing. His look said it all, though; his eyes were narrowed into piercing slits, and his shoulders were stiff. His lips were pulled into a deep pout. Grumbling something underneath his breath, he stood up and made his way back to the small crowd. He received sympathetic pats on the backs and reassuring words.

"I'm telling you, she cheated," he grumbled grouchily to them. "No way she could beat a thief without cheating."

"Ah, but she did," Legault crooned, anything but sympathetic. "I warned you, didn't I?"

Matthew glared at him.

"I bet you wouldn't be able to beat her," Matthew retorted. "Too scared to even try, aren't you?"

"Oh, no, not scared." He shook his head. "Just smart." He tapped the side of his head. "You don't gamble with a tactician, boy. Thief or not." The tactician threw back her head and laughed. "Especially not with this one." He winked at her.

Hector snorted loudly. Every head turned toward him.

"Lord Hector," greeted the tactician, sounding mildly surprised, "and Lord Eliwood!" Hector scowled slightly at the way she brightened when she saw Eliwood. "What brings you here?"

"This is my army and my camp, is it not?"

"That's where you're wrong," she replied, shaking a finger at Hector, "we all know everybody places more trust in Lord Eliwood than you. He leads our army, not you." She winked at Eliwood. He shook his head and laughed. Hector scowled darkly.

"Well, then," Hector said, folding his arms across his broad chest, "you ought to know that Eliwood does not look at gambling favorably."

"Oh, come now," she said before Eliwood could speak upon the matter, "we're just having a little fun!"

Eliwood frowned. "Does having fun have to involve taking other's gold?"

"It's not my fault my employer hasn't been paying me properly." She sent a meaningful look toward Hector. There was a soft laugh at the back of the crowd, and Hector could only assume it to be Lyn.

"Perhaps if the employees stopped messing around and did their damn work—"

"Oh, please, as if you could direct the army any better—"

"Let's not start this again," Eliwood said in an exasperated tone, placing both hands up. "Natalia, there is no excuse for you to be gambling."

"I didn't know there were rules in this army against such games," she replied smartly. "Lyn wasn't against it."

"You never mentioned anything about it," Lyn pointed out. She pushed her way toward the front of the crowd so that she faced the two other lords. "Besides, it's just a little harmless fun."

"But Lyndis," Eliwood started, "it's unfair for those who've worked so hard to earn this gold."

"It is fair," Natalia protested, "it's not like I'm stealing from them." She looked pointedly at Matthew. He simply scowled at her in response, and Legault elbowed him with a snicker. "Right, guys?" She looked at the crowd for support.

"She's right, yah know," Bartre said. "It's our money, our choice. Don't know what you have against gambling, but really, we're just having some fun."

"And relieving some stress," Natalia added. Here she looked meaningfully at Hector. "Because some of us have a lot of pent up stress."

Hector scowled at her, not knowing if she was referring to the fact that he was stressing him out, or that he had a lot of stress issues. Or perhaps she meant both.

"It's quite an intriguing game as well," Canas commented thoughtfully. "I mean, really, is it due to just luck, or is there a strategy behind it all?"

Natalia smirked slightly.

"Bah, that's simple." Hector waved dismissively. "It's all luck, of course."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, is that the case?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then how about you and I play a round, hmm?"

A silence fell upon the group. Hector raised his eyebrows, Lyn looked amused, Eliwood gaped, and every single head turned toward Hector expectantly. He was silent.

"Don't tell me the big Ostian lord's scared," she teased.

That was it. "You're on, tactician."

"You shouldn't play with fire, Lord Hector," Legault called out to him softly in warning.

"Hector!" Eliwood said, aghast. Hector sat down where Matthew had been sitting moments ago.

"How much would you like to bet?" Natalia purred as she began to shuffle the cards. Her fingers worked nimbly, Hector noted, flipping through the cards with such ease as if it was as natural as breathing.

"This is absurd," Eliwood huffed, folding his arms across his chest. He frowned down upon them disapprovingly.

"Oh shush," Hector said, waving him off. He returned his attention to the blonde. "I was thinking that we wouldn't bet on any gold this round." She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Instead, how about the winner makes the loser do whatever he or she decides?" She mulled it over for a moment. "Oh, don't tell me the Lady Tactician's scared," he teased, using her own jest against her. She scowled.

"Fine," she replied, setting the cards down between them, "but we decide on the agreement now."

"Alright." He pondered upon what sort of torture she should go through. Absentmindedly he skimmed his fingers through the grass, and had a sudden revelation. A wide smirk stretched across his lips. "If I win, you have to go on a date with Sain." There were a few catcalls from the others (probably Dart and Bartre, Hector thought in amusement).

"WHAT?" she shouted.

"You heard me." He casually looked at his dirty nails, smirking softly at her reaction. "If I win, you have to go on a date with Sain."

Her hands balled up into fists as she clenched her teeth. He couldn't help but chortle.

Everyone in the camp knew about Sain's infatuation with the tactician. Well, Sain was infatuated with _every_ woman, but as of recently he had set his eyes particularly on her. After she had indirectly and inevitably saved his boon companion's life, he had attempted to thank her multiple times through extravagant means. And she hated it.

Ooh, how he would never let her live it down.

"You're not scared you're going to lose, are you?"

Her eyes flashed. "Of course not," she replied in a clipped tone.

"So you'll go through with the bet if I win?"

"Yeah, _if_ you win. But if _I_ win…" She smirked wickedly. "You have to wear a skirt all day tomorrow." The catcalls came again, this time louder and with far more laughter.

Hector's mouth dropped. "That's ridiculous!"

"Not as ridiculous as your bet," she retorted.

"Yours is more ridiculous, and you know it!"

"Is it?" She arched an eyebrow high. "I think it's reasonable."

"How the hell is that reasonable?"

"Oh come now, Lord Hector, I'm just trying to enhance your feminine side."

"I don't have a feminine—" He cut himself short, suddenly realizing her reasoning behind her bet. She was getting back at him for the time that he had called her unfeminine.

She'd played a prank on him, one that had involved honey and leaves, which had left Hector dripping and fuming. Angry at her immature behavior and her tomboyish ways, he'd told Eliwood that the tactician could've been mistaken for a man if she didn't wear a skirt. She'd either overheard or somebody else had and told her, because she'd later confronted him about what he'd said. She had not been happy.

"Ah," he said softly. She smirked at him, knowing that he'd realized why she would ask such a strange favor of him.

"Maybe people will get you mixed up with a girl," she joked.

"With my killer legs, maybe."

She rolled her eyes. "So, is the deal on, or what?"

He contemplated for a second before smirking widely at her. He extended his hand toward her. "You're on."

She smirked in return and shook his hand firmly. "May the best woman win." She tried not to smile. She was referring to the idea that Hector may very well end up wearing a skirt like a woman.

"May the best man win," he countered, driving home the points that he intended on winning, and that he found her unfeminine. She scowled at him, and he smirked.

They released each other's hand and began to draw five cards from the deck. Natalia paused, her eyes quickly scanning the cards in her hand, before glancing at him.

"You do know how to play, right?" she asked cautiously.

He snorted. "What kind of a question is that?"

She shrugged. "I figured that there couldn't be much gambling going on in a castle."

"Didn't mean that I couldn't sneak out of the castle and go take a peek inside a few taverns, huh?"

She chuckled softly. "Of course you would." Her tone was more affectionate than condescending. "So, you do know how to play?"

He rolled his eyes. "I thought that would've been implied."

"Okay, okay," she said, raising a hand in peace at the annoyed look he gave her, "I was just making sure. I didn't want to have an unfair advantage over you." Though her tone was innocent, a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

He cocked an eyebrow. He heard Matthew mutter, "As if being a tactician isn't enough."

Legault snickered at him and said, "Yet you were foolish enough to play her."

Matthew glared at him. A moment of silence followed as Natalia placed a card, facedown, in the grass and drew another from the deck. Hector's brows crinkled in concentration as he stared at the hands in his card. He held one Knight, a Sword, two Staffs, and a Crown. He drew a card from the deck, and saw that it was a Dragon. He took a quick peek at Natalia, wondering if there was something in her expression that would give anything away. Her expression, although thoughtful, revealed nothing. Her lips were pursed in a slight pout, one that she always wore when contemplating strategies on the battlefield. As much as he hated to admit it, he had always found that pout a little cute.

There was quiet chatter from the spectators as they placed bets on who would win. Eliwood, exasperated, had headed off. Lyn stayed behind, watching and talking with the others. She looked more amused than anything.

"You seem like you've got a quite a lot of experience playing," Hector commented, wondering if talking would be enough to distract her and mess her up. He placed a card down. She glanced at him, looking mildly surprised at the conversation he was attempting, but she instantly looked amused.

"That's because I do. How do you think I've been getting around all these years?"

"She's quite the professional," Lyn chimed in. She smirked slightly. Hector scowled at her, aware of the fact that she was basically telling him that it would be hard to beat her.

"Are you a better tactician or gambler, Nat?" he asked, redirecting his attention to her.

She smirked a little. "I think my answer will scare you either way, Lord Hector."

He raised his eyebrows. Lyn chuckled softly. Natalia placed two cards face down, apart from each other, and drew one from the deck. Hector frowned, still trying to decipher what she had meant by her comment, and drew a card from the stack. His eyes lit up when he saw a King staring back at him, and he tried to suppress his smirk. At this rate, he could end up wearing his usual trousers tomorrow.

"Did you jump in a lake today?" Natalia questioned him, raising an eyebrow as she eyed his shirt briefly.

"Huh?" He blinked out of his reverie. "Oh, no. Eliwood and I sparred."

"Ah. That's what the smell was."

He lowered his cards, scowling at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She giggled to herself, obviously pleased with his reaction. His scowl darkened. "It means you need to take a bath sometime really soon."

"Should you be talking?" he countered, huffing and snatching a card from the deck.

She raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"What, you think I haven't noticed? It's not like you wear perfume to cover it up. Not that I'm surprised," he added, again reiterating the fact that she was unladylike. She glared at him. She returned her attention to her cards and said no more. He laughed. "What, you don't have anything to say to that?" he teased, enjoying his small victory.

"Oh, I have something to say." She placed all her cards down on the grass, face up. Then she flipped over the ones that had been placed face down. She smirked. "It's been a pleasure, Lord Hector."

His mouth involuntarily dropped. Her cards were mostly Dragons and Kings, with only one Crown. He clamped his mouth shut at her smirk, and tried not to look defeated as he revealed his own cards. They consisted of a few Swords, Dragons, and only one King.

"It looks like I won."

There was a sudden eruption around them as their crowd broke out in heated arguments and happy cheers. Natalia smiled at them, amused, and stood up. Hector stubbornly sat where he was. His teeth were clenched and he glowered at her with the utmost hatred he could muster. She smirked that infuriating, tantalizing smirk.

"Maybe Sain will take _you_ out on a date." She winked. He glared daggers at her and said nothing. She laughed, making her eyes twinkle, and offered him her hand. He glared at it. "Aw, come now. Don't be a sore loser."

"Aye, she won fair and square," Dart pointed out. Hector turned to glare at him. "Oi, remember that you ain't the only one that lost to her."

"And you should be happy that she isn't teasing you," Lyn added. "It won't hurt to show a little respect."

He sighed deeply and took Natalia's hand. She pulled at it in an attempt to help him up. Hector rolled his eyes but cracked an amused smile. He stood up himself, and shook the hands that they held entwined.

"Good game."

She smiled at him. "I'll see to it that you get a skirt by tomorrow morning," she said, knowing that the coast was clear and it was her opportunity to rub it in. He scowled. "Don't worry, I'll get you a pretty one."

"Then surely it won't be any of yours."

She rolled her eyes and smacked at his arm playfully. Smiling and shaking her head, she began to gather her cards and the gold she had acquired from earlier.

"I told you not to play with fire, Lord Hector," Legault admonished, wiggling a finger at the lord as he made his way toward him.

"But I thought you'd know by now, Legault."

The assassin frowned, confused. "Know what?"

Hector's eyes went to Natalia. His lips curved up into a sly smirk. "I'm not afraid of a little risk."


End file.
